Major General Zoltán Somogyi
15:53 July 18, 2023Brigadier General Zoltán Somogyi was born on 27th February 1974 in Fehérgyarmat. He began his military service in August 1992 at the Military Command Collage in Szentendre. He graduated as an artillery officer with a BSc in Land Surveying Engineering in 1996. He served 8 years in a various artillery officer assignments including 4 years as Battery Commander within the HDF 5th Mechanized Infantry Brigade 5th Self Propelled Artillery Battalion in Debrecen. During his artillery officer carrier, he successfully completed the Battery Commander Course of the German Bundeswehr and gathered experiences also in the field of rocket artillery. In 2003 he was deployed to the position of the 2nd Company Commander of the Hungarian Guard and Security Battalion, KFOR Kosovo and in 2004 he assumed command of the Hungarian Guard and Security Contingent, KFOR Skopje.
In 2007, he was appointed to the position of Hungarian Joint Force Command J3 Staff Officer in Székesfehérvár and he was promoted to Major. In 2009, he was assigned as a Liaison Officer to the German Operations Command in Potsdam and to the German MOD Planning Staff in Berlin focused on Hungarian contribution to ISAF operation. In 2010, he graduated from the National Defense University with MSc degree in Military Leadership. In 2012 he graduated the 7th German National Joint Admiral and General Staff Course at the Bundeswehr Command & Staff Collage in Hamburg. Following that, he was appointed to the position of the Military Assistant to the Chief of Land Forces of the Hungarian Joint Force Command and he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. From 2013 to 2016, he served as the Head of Combat Support Branch G3 HDF JFC.
During this assignment in 2013-2014 he was deployed for seven months to Afghanistan as a senior advisor and head of a brigade level advisory team. In 2016, he was assigned to the position of Chief G37 HDF Joint Force Command. In 2017, his next appointment was at HDF JFC where he held the post of Chief J3/ACOS Operations and was promoted to the rank of Colonel.
From August 2018 he started and led the planning project of Headquarters Multinational Division Centre. He was appointed to Chief of Staff of the Headquarters Multinational Division Centre on 01 June 2020 and he was promoted to his current rank on the 20th of August 2020.
12 May 2022 – 17 May 2023 he served as Chief of Staff of EUFOR Force HQ in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Since 15 July 2023 he has been assuming the position Director of the General Staff Hungarian Defence Forces.
He is married to his wife Beatrix and lives in Várpalota.
Hungarian Chief of Defence attends NATO session
14:07 January 20, 2023
On 18–19 January, leaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the representatives of Finland and Sweden held a two-day meeting of the NATO Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence Session at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. The event was attended by Lieutenant General Romulusz Ruszin-Szendi PhD, Chief of the HDF General Staff, who also met the Hungarian soldiers serving in Belgium and gave them recognitions.
New Commander assumes command of EUFOR Operation Althea
13:51 January 20, 2023
On 18 January 2023, Major General Helmut Habermayer assumed command of EUFOR Operation Althea. At the Change of Command ceremony, the Hungarian Ministry of Defence was represented by Gábor Gion, MoD State Secretary for Strategic Analysis and Human Resources and Lieutenant General Zsolt Sándor, Deputy Chief of the General Staff of the Hungarian Defence Forces.
HDF organizations to be rejuvenated
13:47 January 20, 2023
“In an age of dangers, the Government of Hungary considers the security of the Hungarian people as its top priority. In parallel with the procurement of modern military technology, the organizational transformation of the armed forces is also under way. In this work, we have now reached the threshold of a new era. The personnel of the Hungarian Defence Forces must be renewed as well”, said Minister of Defence Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky at his annual assessment conference held in the Budapest Whale in the morning of Tuesday, 17 January.
The Skylark procurement project has come to an end
14:42 January 11, 2023
Pro Patria Electronics Ltd., a Hungarian military electronics service provider, held a project completion ceremony of the Skylark-1 LEX and Skylark-3 unmanned aerial reconnaissance systems’ delivery on Tuesday, December 6th, at the Stefánia Palace - Honvéd Cultural Centre in Budapest. At the event, Major General Ferenc Kajári, Group Chief of the Military National Security Service Reconnaissance Group Headquarters, praised the military force development project carried out in cooperation between the Budapest-based company and the Israeli defence company Elbit.
NATO looks back
09:38 January 9, 2023
Like several other organizations, the NATO Multinational Corps Northeast (MNC NE) looks back on last year’s events on its social media page through photos presented by month.
Fruitful Canadian–Hungarian cooperation
20:36 December 14, 2022
The Canadian CAE, a high-tech firm at the leading edge of digital immersion, celebrated the 75th anniversary of its foundation in Normafa Event House, Budapest on Monday, 12 December. Having a Hungarian subsidiary company since 2009, this high-tech firm has been working to contribute to the successes of the Hungarian Defence Forces at several points beyond development: through its NATO Flying Training in Canada (NFTC) program to the training of fighter pilots, through the production of simulators for the training of Airbus A319 pilots, and through the simulator training provided for H145M helicopter pilots.
South Korea aspires to special strategic partnership with Hungary
13:34 December 13, 2022
On Monday, 12 December Gábor Gion, MoD State Secretary for Strategic Analysis and Human Resources received a delegation from the National Defense Committee of the National Assembly of the Republic of Korea in the Ministry of Defence building on Balaton Street, Budapest. At the meeting, the two sides primarily discussed the possibilities for cooperation in defence industry and innovation.
The security of the Western Balkans is the common strategic interest of the United Kingdom and Hungary
10:16 December 13, 2022
The security of the Western Balkans is the common strategic interest of the United Kingdom and Hungary – said Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky in a public media interview after his discussions in London on Monday.
Hungarian Brigadier General gets elected as deputy chairman of board of directors of NATO’s DIANA Network
10:13 December 13, 2022
The Board of Directors of the NATO Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) network held a meeting on 12 December 2022, where the Hungarian candidate, Brigadier General Dr. Imre Porkoláb, MoD Ministerial Commissioner for Innovation was elected deputy chairman of the Board of Directors.
Defence industrial products made in Hungary increase security
16:13 December 12, 2022
The defence industrial products manufactured in Hungary increase security, said Defence Minister Kristóf Szalay-Bobrovniczky in Budapest on Friday, 9 December.